A Wonderful Gift From God

(I am reposting here an entry in my old blog account which I wrote on December 19, 2005)

A Wonderful Gift From God
Monday, December 19th, 2005
I and Vids consider our experience in Iloilo a wonderful gift from God.
Aside from the fact that it is a blessing knowing brothers and sisters in the Lord in Iloilo whom we enjoyed spending time with we have learned and discovered a lot about ourselves.
We are thankful to God for giving us Pastor Boy, Tintin, Nang Crista, Nong Sonny, Ate Jo, Pastor Jon, Nong Mart, Nang Gilma, Sharmaine, and Doc Ruel and other Center of Grace family who really showed their love for us. To you guys, thank you very much for showing us what a true Christian love is. We will always keep you in our hearts.
But there are two persons who really made a niche in my heart. I felt that I can really relate with them well. They are Nang Nita and Nong Jun Sano.
Nang Nita lives in the street just 20 meters away from the church building. She sleeps on the pavement. She is about fifty to fifty five years old and she is "mentally impaired (to use politically correct terms). I and Nang Nita had a long chat last June and I really enjoyed talking to her (This was when she was in her right mind). From then on whenever I will pass by her I will take few minutes to chat with her. Sometimes, when I have money I will give her 25 pesos for her meal and if I don’t have money I will give her instant noodles. Since then I noticed that she always sweeps the front of the chapel. I told myself that maybe she is doing it as a sign of gratitude for what I am giving her. Or maybe because it is her way to show her love for us her friends. What God taught me about her is that if we will respect and love any individual, that person will learn to respect and love us in return.
Nong Jun is a pedicab driver who I always meet on the street. Once I passed by him while he was with his fellow pedicab driver and through them I learned that his wife was in the hospital. One night, while talking to him I’ve learned that his wife was to be discharged from the hospital. One problem though. He doesn’t have P1,000 for her hospital bill. That night, I and Vids only had P300 in our pocket and we decided to give him the P200 as a sign of our love for him trusting God that He will provide for all our needs because it was His willl for us to help Nong Jun. I also decided to approach Pastor Boy Narido and some church leaders and they decided to help Nong Jun. The next Sunday Nong Jun attended the worship service and he is consistent in attending all the services since then. What I learned from this experience is that showing love to another person is an effective way of sharing the Gospel. We should not be afraid of helping people (this is brought by the fear of producing "rice christians") because I can see that Nong Jun did not become a "rice christian" as a result of helping him In fact, he tried to return the good deeds by sewing the traveling bag that we used in going to Manila.
I am more convinced that I can really relate better with people who belong in the lowest economic strata of our society. Don’t get mer wrong here. :-) I enjoyed our time with others but there really is a special place in my heart with this kind of people. I don’t know why. And I don’t try to discover why. Maybe because I can really identify with them. Or maybe it is a result of my training in college (they say that most UPians are activists/communists). Or maybe…
I remember a story about Salot Sar (Pol Pot) of Khmer Rouge. Once he asked his comrade what is the best way for them to be loved by poor people in Cambodia. The conversation goes like this:
Salot Sar: How do you think will poor people love us?
Comrade: Fight for their right.
Salot Sar: No.
Comrade: Maybe help them materially.
Salot Sar: No.
Comrade: How?
Salot Sar: Live among them and leave like them. Eat what they eat. Identify as one with them. Then, they will learn to love you.
If we, Christians, will learn to idenrify with different people groups, then we can turn the whole upside down.
Another thing that I also learned in our stay in Iloilo is to hold on to my fundamental baptist belief. In Iloilo, I had the time to read not only books that support fundamentalism but also books that support neo-pentecostalism, third wave, etc. But as I read them, I become more convinced of my baptistic belief.
As you may know, I grew up with Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) and since CCC is an interdenominational organization it taught me how to respect other christian denominations. But as time goes by, I’ve seen the importance to hold on to what I believe is true and biblical.
To Pastor Boy and Tintin, thank you for everything. I will cherish our time together. To Ate Jo, thank you for your love and friendship. I’ve really seen Christ in you. To Pastor Jon Jainga, thank you for being a true friend and a true brother in Christ. To Pastor Mike, thank you for showing us that doctrinal differences is not a hindrance to our friendship and brotherly love. As you said, we will always remain friends no matter what. Thank you, thank you very much